A Second Chance II: Life Goes On. - 7. Chapter 7

Mike got to the house looking for me, and found me, still working. When he came into the office, he just came up, grabbed me in a huge hug, and kissed me deeply and passionately. We kissed for a long time, or should I say we kissed, and kissed and kissed for a long time.

Then Mike broke the kissing and said, “Where is our munchkin at?”

“I don’t know, love, I haven’t seen him since we all went to work. I guess he is out with Star somewhere. You know I still love you, don’t you?

Mike just grabbed me again, said, “No I don’t think you do?”, and then kissed me again to be sure.

“Well, love, you going to fix lunch for us? I don’t think I want peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and that's what we would get if Colt does it, you know?”

“Ok, let me go find him, and I’ll fix it.” Mike grinned at me as he left the office.

Mike took off looking for Colt, and I finished filling out Colt's forms for school. I still had to wait for Bill and Janet to give me what they had picked up, in Riverton. I guess it had been about 30 minutes, since I had seen Mike, or Colt, so I went out looking for them. I checked the house first, and it was just me there. So I went out to the barn, and I didn’t see anyone there either, wondering what was going on, I went to Mike’s bunkhouse office, and that was empty. Ben wasn’t even around; shit, I thought, where the hell is everyone. I was beginning to worry, so I ran back to the house to get my cell phone and called Mike’s cell phone. It just rang, and rang, then I heard it, shit! He didn’t have it with him. It was in his office ringing. I guess another 15 minutes passed, and still no one. I was really getting worried now. I again ran out to the barn, still no one. I then started looking for Star, Lady, Ginger; hell any of our horses and they were missing too. I tried to calm down telling myself that Colt had gone riding on the ranch. Mike and Ben were just out looking for him; I went back into the house and got my field glasses, and looked out in all directions, but still didn't see anyone. Now I WAS in a panic! What the hell do I do now? Relax, I kept telling myself, but the more I told myself that, the worse I felt. I picked up the field glasses again, and looked some more. Then I saw a cloud of dust off toward the north pasture, and then I started to relax, just knowing it was them coming home. Not wanting to look upset with them after the phone with Mike deal, I went back into the house to wait.

Then I heard someone screaming, "JC! JC! Call 911, now hurry!"

My god! I ran to the door to see Ben getting off Sugar, in a panic. He was screaming, “Get an ambulance fast! Mike is hurt very bad!” I ran back into the house and called 911, telling them that we needed an ambulance, fast at the Lazy L ranch. Then I called Larry and told him to hurry, and get Chuck here fast, that Mike was hurt bad. Then I called Chuck telling him I needed him fast and that Larry would pick him up.

Chuck said, "Calm down, JC, calm down; now what’s the problem?"

"I don't know yet; Ben just came in on horseback telling me that Mike was hurt real bad, and to get you all here. God, Chuck! Please, don't let him die on me!”

Ben was standing behind me saying, tell them that Ginger tripped and bucked him off and I think his neck might be broken. I'm not sure. Just tell them to hurry."

My God, I was shaking so bad, I couldn't even dial the phone now. I grabbed my cell phone and told Ben, "Let's get back to Mike, right now. I'll ride on Sugar with you. I'll keep calling from my cell phone." I called Chuck back, telling him what Ben had just said.

Chuck told me, "Make sure that no one moves him, until I get there. He'll be better off waiting for me." Now Chuck seemed panicked, too. This did not help me in the least.

When we got to Mike, he was not awake, he didn't look dead, but he was pale, and I could see he was at least breathing. Strange, Ginger was nowhere to be seen, but she could have gone back to the barn. I knelt down and checked my love's pulse at his wrist, and it was racing. He had a big bump on the left side of his head. God, I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I couldn't, I remembered what Chuck had just told me. I could hear the sirens in the distance, and before they got there, I saw Larry pulling up on the road, so Chuck could get here faster; it was closer than the house was to us. Chuck ran up from the road. He was panting, saying, "Has anyone moved him?"

"No, not that I know of," I replied.

"Who was here when it happened?" Chuck asked

"I was," Ben replied

"Was he awake after it happened?"

"No, it don't look to me like he has moved at all." Ben was scared, and God knows, so was I.

The ambulance pulled up, out by our car. Larry came with the medics, and they came over with a stretcher and some other equipment. Chuck told them who he was and that he needed a neck immobilizer, and some kind of medication. He told them to be careful; it’s possibly a broken neck or back. I was shaking so bad, Chuck talked to one of the medics, and he came over and told me to swallow a little green pill. I gulped it down without water. He said, “That'll calm you down some.” I was crying, just looking at my poor, wonderful Mike, lying on the ground, not moving. The medics were very careful with him. They got him stable and then, all of us helped get him on the stretcher. We carried him to the waiting ambulance.

Mike was loaded in, and Chuck got in the ambulance with him, telling me, "JC, you follow us to the hospital. I will see you there, and don't worry; he's going to be fine. His vital signs seem ok."

As the ambulance pulled away, I looked around, and it dawned on me, that Colt was not there. I shouted saying, "Where the fuck is Colt now?"

Ben spoke up saying, "Sorry, JC, that's what we were doing, looking for Colt, when Mike was thrown from Ginger.” He was scared. I was, too, now. What should I do? Mike's on the way to the hospital, and Colt's nowhere to be found. Shit, shit, shit....

I said, "Ok, folks, let's figure this mess out. Larry, you will take me to the hospital. Ben, you get all the ranch hands back now, but go to the house, and wait until I get Julie to come out, then look for Colt. I'll call Julie and have her come out here, in case Colt shows up. No one is to call the police yet, do you understand me? We don't want them involved unless we really need them. I have a small army of employees, and they can all look. I just don't want Mike waking up without knowing where Colt is.

Everyone took off for their assigned tasks; Larry and I headed for the hospital and my beloved Mike. Larry didn’t waste any time or gas, getting us there in a hurry. When we arrived at the emergency room I wanted to go see Mike right away, but the Nurse stopped me and asked if I were family, and I had to pull out the power of attorney, so she would get off my back. Then she asked me to please wait in the waiting room, until she could check for me.

Larry spoke saying, “JC, Chuck won't let anything happen to him, you know that, don't you?” He was trying hard to comfort me, and I knew it, but that still didn’t tell me what I wanted to know. And that, of course, was how my love was doing.

I paced the floor not knowing how Mike was, nor where my lost boy was; God, where are my two angels when I need them. I broke down again; my eyes were welling up with tears. Larry went and got me a cup of black coffee, from one of the machines. I took a sip of that, and damn near puked. I said, “You trying to kill me?” I managed to crack a smile at him. I forgot to call Julie saying, "Shit, I forgot to call Julie!" I opened my cell phone to call, but Larry reached out and closed it.

Saying, "Sorry, JC, I noticed that. You didn't call her, on the way in, so I called and explained everything to her, and she should be at the house by now." Thank you, Larry, you're a lifesaver. Now where the hell is that damn nurse? I was again starting to panic. Why haven't I heard about Colt yet? I opened my cell phone and called Julie.

"Hello." It was Julie, thank God.

"Hi sweetie, is Colt there?" I was hoping he had showed up.

"No, hon, not yet, Ben and ten of the hands are out looking for him now."

"Thank you for coming in on your day off."

"My god, hon, you know I would never turn you down, and with all you are going through I can't believe you are still standing. I'm praying everything will be ok."

"Thank you; please call my cell if you hear anything, please?"

"JC, you know I will and you keep me informed on Mike's condition, too?"

"I will and again Thanks” Then I closed the cell phone.

Finally, the nurse came back and told me that Mike was now in x-ray, and, "... as soon as they knew anything, your doctor will be out to see you." I asked if I could go see Mike and she said, "Sorry, sir, no one can right now, you will get to see him soon. He is in good hands, son."

Larry and I just sat there for what seemed like a couple hours, and I don’t really know. Then Chuck came out of the double doors wearing a set of green surgery scrubs. I went into hyper panic mode, saying, “How is he, Chuck?!” I stammered.

“I think he's going to be ok, JC, we won’t know, for sure, until he regains consciousness. His vital signs are all good, he is in good shape, and his back and neck are ok. The x-rays do not show anything being broken. However, that bump on the head is what’s keeping him in a coma, only time will tell when he'll come out of it.

“JC, I'm going to tell the charge nurse that you can visit him any time you want, and even spend the night, if you wish. Have you heard about your son, Colt, yet?”

“No, and God I'm so worried about him, I have all the hands out looking for him and his horse, Star. Fuck! What a goddamn day this has been!” I was just fit to be tied and horse whipped.

Chuck gave me a couple more pills, and told me to take them. “Then go see your partner. He is in ICU, and will be, for the night. Then we'll move him, if all goes well, in the morning, to a private room.” Then Chuck left, so I went upstairs to see Mike. When I walked into the room, he was connected to all kinds of tubes and wires. I went over to his bed and told him, “I love you so much, please come back to me. I need you right now, oh, God, how I need you.” I could not bring myself to tell him about Colt, for fear he might just hear me, and put him into an even deeper coma. I pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

Larry was standing there, looking down at Mike and I could see tears in his eyes. I told him to go home, and if I needed him, I could call again. He said ok, and told me that he was sure everything would work out ok.

When Larry left the room, it was just my love and me there, and, God, I missed Colt; if I could have just had him there with me; the night would not be so bad. I looked out the window, toward the ranch, and said to myself. “Charlie or James, I really need your help. I don’t know where that cute little boy you give us is, and I miss him so. And Mike is here and he needs your help too.” It was dark now, and still no Colt. I was getting so scared. Where could that boy be? I called again and talked to Julie, but still there was no sign of Colt, I told her what Chuck had told me, and explained that I will be at the hospital. If she heard anything, she was to call. What a wonderful sweet lady she was.

Colt….

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Star and I got to the mountain in the afternoon, but we couldn’t find that man, Charlie. I didn’t want to be found, by anyone else, so Star and I, found a little bunch of trees and we were go'na just wait until Charlie came. It was daytime when we got there but now it was getting very dark and I was getting real scared.

But Star told me, “Don’t be scared I’ll protect you, Colt.” So I lay down on the ground and it was getting cold, I wish I had saddled him, cause I would have had his saddle blanket to keep me warm. Star told me, “Lay down on the ground next to me, after I lay down.” I waited for him, and when he lay down, then I curled up next to him and fell asleep.

Then a coyote started howling. That woke up Star and me. Now I was real scared. The coyote was getting closer and closer to us. I moved back into a little gulley trying to hide. But the coyote got closer. I was really getting scared now. Star told me, “Don’t worry, I’m going to protect you, Colt." I knew he would. Then it was so still, and then there was no sounds and out of the dark, came a fur ball charging at us. Star reared back, on his hind legs as the coyote charged, Star dropped down onto his front hoofs and crushed the coyote. Star just kept trampling him over and over again until there was no more sound from the coyote. I thanked Star for saving my life.

Then Star told me, “Lay down again so we could keep warm.” But before we did, I heard Ginger calling to Star. I was scared again, cause Ginger had poppa Mike's saddle on her. She was talking to Star, asking him why he left, cause she was carrying his baby. Star was very happy. Ginger told Star that Mike was hurt very bad when she fell into a prairie dog hole, while they were out looking for Colt, that’s why she had a saddle on.

I yelled, "My poppa Mike is hurt real bad, and he was looking for me. It's all my fault, Star.” I started crying, I asked Star, “Take me back now, please Star take me home, I don't know how to get there!" I was really crying hard, Star said, “Get on, and we can go home...” Ginger was following us, and it was so cold, I just lay down on Star's back as he slowly started down the mountain... I saw the sun coming up, and we still were not home. I was so hungry and so cold, but Star told me, “We're getting close.” A little while later and I saw the ranch and I was going to see my Pop and poppa Mike again. I hope I don’t get into a lot of trouble. Or maybe they will make me go away again. Then I started crying again. Star whinnied, saying, “I don’t think they will do that Colt. I think they love you too much.” We just kind of sneaked into the barn and I un-saddled Ginger and brushed them a little bit. Then I ran to the house real fast. I opened the back door and there was Grandma Julie waitin' for me. I just ran up to her and hugged her saying, “Grandma Julie, I’m really sorry, really I am; Ginger told me my poppa Mike is hurt real bad, can I see him please, is he alright, please.”

Julie…

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“My God, son, where have you been? Your pop is worried sick about you, and your poppa Mike, is in the hospital, getting well,” Julie replied, thinking how do I tell him how bad Mike is.

“My poppa Mike is in the hospital? He ain’t go’na die, is he grandma? Ginger told me he was hurt real bad.” The poor boy was cold and scared to death.

“You go jump in the shower and make it a hot one. You are cold and dirty. Then I will have you some hot food and some hot chocolate waiting for you… Now run along and get cleaned up.” I told my little munchkin.

As soon as Colt left the room for the shower, I called JC.

“Hello”

“Hello sweetie, your lost boy is home.”

“Thank God, where was he?”

“Hon, I don’t know, all I can tell you is that he came running into the house dirty and cold, yelling that his poppa Mike was hurt real bad, and that Ginger had told him. And he is so scared you are going to send him away. He just said he was really really sorry for hurting his poppa Mike. I also told him that you and Mike were at the hospital, and of course, that really upset him, that he can’t see Mike.”

“Julie, please, if you could get him cleaned up; I will have Larry come get him, and you too, if you want to come down here.”

“Is Mike awake yet?”

“No, he isn't, and we don’t know when, or, sadly, even if, that will happen I don't know how I have managed so far, but to tell you the truth, I think knowing that Colt is home safe has lightened my burden so much, that I think I can keep going till he gets here.”

“I’ll get Colt ready; you go ahead and have Larry come get him. I'll just keep the home fires burning, here, for you.” I told him.

“Thanks so much for being there for us, Julie.”

“Sweetie, you just get that man of yours well; that'll be all the thanks I need. Now that the little one is home to stay.”

“That’s a promise, hon. He is going to get well I just know it.”

“Ok.” Then he hung up his phone.

JC…

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We now were on the second floor of the hospital in a private room; overlooking the river. My love was still in his coma. I had been given a hospital breakfast, because I was not going to leave his side, other than for the nature calls.

It wasn’t long before Larry, followed by our little munchkin, came into the room. Colt, as soon as he saw me, looked really funny like he was really scared. I had no idea how to gage his expression or demeanor.

Colt looked at Mike then at me, holding his head down. He spoke almost in a whisper, “Pop, poppa, I’m… I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, poppa Mike is hurt. I’m really, really sorry!’ I was looking at him, for a split second, grabbed him, and hugged him so tight he squealed, saying, “You’re hurting me, pop!” I relaxed my huge hug, but I didn’t let him go.

“God, son, you didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, but in my mind he was right, I thought. I had to find out what and why he was gone, for so long.

“But pop, it was cause I ran away, that poppa Mike is here, in the hospital.” He was starting to cry, almost uncontrollably.

“Son, please stop crying, and tell me all about it, PLEASE? I promise you, it’s going to be all right, OK?” God, he had me with tears welling up in my eyes.

“Do you still want me? I… I heard you on the phone talking to poppa Mike yesterday. And that’s why I took Star and went looking for that man, Charlie, up on the mountain.” I was hearing his words but couldn’t understand his reasoning.

“Son, where were you when you heard me talking to Mike?” Then, like someone turned on a light in my brain, I remembered the phone call about Colt’s computer.

“I.. I… was coming to see you in your office, and I heard you yel…ling at my poppa Mike, saying things that made me think you would be sending me away to that school, to get me out of your house.”

“OH! MY! GOD! SON!" I thought, God! It’s all my fault, that Mike is here.

I took Colt, and we sat down on the easy chair in Mike’s hospital room. Colt was sitting on my lap, then I explained in as much detail as I could remember, about that phone call with Mike, and what it was all about. Reassuring him that he was wanted, very much, and pointing out that he had been told that, many, many times.

Then I told him again, “Son, you are ours! Mike and I are your parents now. No one, not even Mike or I will make you go away, until, or unless, you want to go away! And I hope that you will never want to go away. Can you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes… Do you really really mean that pop? Cause if you do, I will never leave you or my poppa Mike. Can I go hug my poppa Mike now?” That did it, I was flat out bawling now. I got some tissues to blow my nose.

“Of course you can hug your poppa Mike, he needs all your love right now son, and mine, too.” Colt got up and went over to Mike, and hugged him, the best he could, and then, he kissed him on the lips. Which he had never done to either of us before. It kind of shocked me that he would do that. Nevertheless, he did it and, Mike started to move. I got up, and went around, to the other side of his bed and I also kissed him. Mike’s eyes opened slowly, those beautiful emerald green eyes; I brushed back his golden blond hair out of them, and kissed him again, and again.

He squeaked, speaking, “Hello, love, did you find Colt?” All I did was look in Colt’s direction, and those emerald green eyes followed mine. By then our munchkin was all over him; hugging him, and kissing him, on the cheek this time. To this day, I still asked myself if that kiss was the reason Mike woke up that day. I guess I will never know.

“I love you poppa Mike, and I’m sorry I ran away, yesterday.” Mike looked at me, speaking only with his eyes, as to ask what the hell happened.

For the next hour or so, I explained what had happened the day before up to the present. I was not only filling Mike in, but I had a bouncing boy listening to every last word, interjecting in places only, he could. So it was kind of a family chat. I will say that chat was something we all really needed to do. Colt, from that day on, really became closer to us, than he had ever been. How that was possible, I couldn't tell you, here.

Well I am getting ahead of my story here. So let’s get back to the correct point in it.